Dr.Hab., Professor, Honorary Worker of Physical Culture of the RF L.I. Lubysheva¹
PhD, Associate Professor, Honorary Worker of Physical Culture of the RF V.P. Mochenov^1
1Russian State University of Physical Education, Sports, Youth and Tourism (SCOLIPE), Moscow

Keywords: sport science, research methodology, trans-disciplinary system, integration processes, athletic training theory, post-neoclassical science.

Background. As things now stand, many physical education and sport researchers and analysts feel the need in the existing theoretical and practical fundamentals for the empirical studies being rethought and revised [5, 6], with due priority being given both to the real transformations in the study object and the ongoing new quality bringing reforms in the modern sport science.

Objective of the study was to make the modern sport science integration process theory and practice analysis to outline the progress vectors for the physical education and sports sector.

Study logics. The logical stages in the modern sport science integration process theory and practice analysis were the following: (1) consider the present status of the sport science; (2) overview the sport science history and progress logics; (3) make a critical analysis of the integration processes; and (4) offer a constructive solution for the sport science knowledgebase integration issues.

It is important to mention for the purposes of the integration process analysis that presently the sport science is ranked among the sector sciences – the same, for instance, as agricultural, health and military sciences. Unlike the academic sciences that are classified and developed on a subjective or disciplinary basis, the sector sciences are designed on an objective basis i.e. driven by specific practical objectives/ needs of the relevant sector. It is due to the sector ranking of the national sport science that the scientific knowledge is presently designed as follows: (1) the scope of a sport science always includes a few different research disciplines; (2) the number and composition of disciplines is directly determined by the practical needs of the physical education and sport sector; (3) the problem-solving research process is designed in strict compliance with and limited by the methodology of the relevant research discipline within the sport science; and (4) the sport science integration processes depend on how well developed and consistent the relevant research methodologies are.

Historically the sport science (viewed as an array of practical problem solving research disciplines) has been formed and developed as required by the social order, with its very first steps designed to lay the theoretical and practical basics for the physical education process. This is the reason why the researchers at first gave a high priority to the physical movement design logics and physical activity perfection goals. The conceptual framework of the sport science at this initial progress stage was determined mostly by education, medical and biological sciences.

It was due to the growing demand for the theoretical and practical provisions for the athletic training process of the national sport teams that in the national sport science an increasing priority has been given to sport medicine, biomechanics, biochemistry, sport anthropology, sport psychology and other relevant research disciplines. It should be noted that progress in every such research discipline depends on its conceptual and methodological toolkit and, hence, its actual contribution to the consolidated research flow in the physical education and sports sector. It should be emphasized that every scientist working on a sector order operates within the conceptual vision and paradigm of the relevant research discipline.

It was for the reason that individual practical missions of the sector research disciplines are rather specific that the sector faced an objective need for the disciplinary scientific knowledge being integrated and different research thrusts being closely coordinated and harmonized. Historically, the national sport science has made attempts to design the following umbrella theories:

– Physical education and cultural theory based on the ideas and concepts of P.F. Lesgaft, V.V. Gorinevskiy, M.F. Ivanitskiy and others who effectively formed the theoretical groundwork for the human physical progress theory in the 1920-30ies;

– Physical education history and theory developed in the period of 1920-1980es by V.V. Stolbov, A.B. Sunik, A.D. Novikov, with the highly valuable theoretical and practical contributions from L.P. Matveyev and the Saint Petersburg research school leaded by N.I. Ponomarev, V.M. Vydrin and Yu.M. Nikolayev; and

– Athletic training and sport theory designed largely by contributions from L.P. Matveyev, V.N. Platonov, Y.V. Verkhoshanskiy, V.K. Bal’sevich and some other prominent Soviet scientists in the period of 1960-1990ies.

It may be pertinent to mention in this context a few other projects intended to generate such an umbrella theory. V.V. Kuzin and B.A. Nikityuk [4], for instance, offered integrative anthropology as a basis for the umbrella theory for the reason that the “integrative anthropology ensures the specific disciplinary knowledge of human nature being consolidated to provide a deeper insight into the somato-psychic, personality socio-cultural and bodily-environmental domains”.

On the whole, the authors quite reasonably made an emphasis on the interdisciplinary knowledgebase being formed via a synthesis of spirituality and physicality research, natural scientific and humanitarian knowledge systems.

S.V. Dmitriev in his work “Socio-cultural theory of human motor actions” [2] underlined the same need for an integrated methodological toolkit to be designed to consolidated and harmonize the spiritual-cultural, somato-psychic and bodily-physical components of the modern human culture.

We should also mention in this context kinesiology as the system of research views on the human kinesiologic progress that was offered as a basis for such an integrative umbrella theory [1]. The kinesiology-prioritizing approach is based on the philosophical notion of kinestasa as the spiritual origin of any bodily physical activity within the universal cosmic system. Kinestasa in this context may be described as a movement reflection in the human consciousness. Therefore, kinesiology may be defined as the science exploring the movements of muscles, thoughts and feelings and, therefore, providing a toolkit to explain the close relationship of the human spirituality and physicality.

Study results and discussion. The integration process theory and methodology analysis demonstrates that further progress in the national sport science is only possible if the theoretical and practical fundamentals for research in the physical education and sport sector are revised as dictated by the modern scientific knowledge building and consolidation trends.

It is the trans-disciplinary design of the modern science that facilitates the umbrella theory development process, for the research knowledge integration issues are largely solved by the practical and management toolkits, with the relevant trends being increasingly obvious in the national physical education and sports sector [3]. Thus, in 1980ies the systemic approach driven practices were applied to improve the Olympic national teams training processes. The long-term athletic training systems were designed at that time to attain the competitive fitness rates required for success in the Olympics. The must-win training models were reasonably and efficiently designed based on the competitive performance data analyses, with the sport-specific integrative performance models developed for success in every sport discipline. Then each of the frame models was further detailed to focus on the specific model motor skills of each athlete intended to collectively secure target individual competitive performance and success.

Conclusion. In the situation when the research paradigms are being revised, the research process management agencies shall actively support the new research thrusts and discussions to encourage every initiative to lay sound and new theoretical and practical fundamentals for the national sport science, with the grant system being increasingly applied to facilitate the theoretical and practical toolkits development process in the national sport science.

The national research periodicals shall be prepared to make their contributions to the theoretical and practical toolkit revision and update process, with the coverage management policies designed to promote methodological research and focused discussions, encourage new promising research projects and consolidate the efforts of the research teams to develop the new research technologies and offer new conceptual decisions.

  References

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Corresponding author: fizkult@teoriya.ru

Abstract

The study analyzes modern trends in sport science and effects of the relevant socio-cultural processes on the research in the physical education and sports sector, with an emphasis on the theoretical and practical groundwork for the modern integration processes in the sport science and the key practical problems that need to be solved to secure further progress of the sport science. Presently the situation in the sport science is dictated by the transition to the breakthrough research technologies driven by interdisciplinary research projects facilitated by the close and effective cooperation in a variety of research disciplines coordinated and driven by an umbrella (integrative) research theory.

The active invasion of the modern breakthrough genetic/ neurobiological/ neuropsychological/ artificial intelligence technologies in the modern sport science facilitates contributions of the leading academic centers in the problem-specific sport research thrusts to reform the very design of the research system in the national sport sector. In the transitional period when the research paradigms are being changed, the decision-makers shall support new research thrusts, facilitate discussions and encourage research to lay sound theoretical and practical basics for the modern sport science, with the grant financing system being increasingly applied to renew the theoretical and practical toolkits of the sport science.